Natural Disasters

As 2020 Ties for Hottest Year, Pandemic Delays Climate Action and Health Risks Widen Inequality

Data by the Climate Vulnerable Forum shows only 73 out of 160 nations have complied with the 2020 Paris Agreement deadline for countries to submit revised climate plans to the UN.

Of those 73, 69 countries have stepped up commitments in either adaptation or lowering emissions - 57 countries that submitted stronger emissions reduction targets account for only 13% of global emissions, while the 66 countries that committed to stronger adaptation, account for 1.67 billion people, just a fifth of the global population.

Following Hurricane Devastation in Central America, Experts Weigh in on Migration & US Protection

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies report over 4.3 million Central Americans - including 3 million Hondurans - have been impacted by Hurricane Eta alone, which struck Nicaragua on November 3rd. Those numbers rose when Hurricane Iota struck two weeks later, again in Nicaragua on November 16th.

The Red Cross America’s division described conditions as a "triple emergency” in Honduras and Guatemala of: hurricane Eta, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the years-long drought that has deeply impacted agriculture, making even subsistence agriculture, impossible across large sections of the region. The Red Cross says it is now readying for internal displacement, as well as migration across borders, as a result.

Hurricanes Wreak Havoc on Central America, Demonstrating Region’s Vulnerability to Climate Change

Just two weeks after Hurricane Eta devastated parts of Central America, with Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua worst hit, Hurricane Iota made landfall in Nicaragua during the early hours of November 17, just 15 miles south of where Eta had first hit the region. With more than 2.5 million people from Panama to Belize already impacted in some way by Hurricane Eta, the region is facing an unprecedented situation, especially given Iota’s distinction as the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in Nicaragua in the month of November.

The back-to-back storms have created an overwhelming situation for government officials and aid groups, who are struggling to temporarily house those displaced by the storms, a particularly difficult task during a pandemic. Heavy rains have caused flooding and landslides, which have wiped out entire communities. One village in Guatemala was covered in mud 50 feet deep in some places.

Typhoon Goni Exacerbates Pandemic Impact in Underprepared Philippines

typorama (2).PNG

The strongest storm the world has seen in four years made landfall in the Philippines on Sunday, devastating Catanduanes Island before moving on to Luzon, the nation’s most populous island. Evacuations may have helped to keep the death toll low, but are nearly 400,000, most of whom are now living in temporary storm shelters. This has raised serious concerns over the spread of COVID-19 in a country already experiencing one of the worst outbreaks in the Asia-Pacific region with cases now over 389,000. 

While the Philippines is no stranger to typhoons, reeling from two others in two weeks before Goni,  the combination of the pandemic and worsening storms due to climate change has created a very difficult situation for which the country was not adequately prepared. 

As the BBC reports, some local officials had already depleted their disaster relief funds trying to combat the pandemic, and evacuation efforts faced challenges in dealing with COVID patients. Indeed, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned that “the most vulnerable displaced populations have become even more vulnerable.” Close quarters at evacuation shelters and the closure of at least one region’s testing center due to storm damage does indeed leave many in a precarious situation, especially groups like women and girls, who’s safety in temporary shelter requires special attention from authorities. 

Even if the unfortunate situation facing some local governments’ emergency relief funds were not completely avoidable, Goni’s severity is yet another reminder that the Philippines is not adequately prepared for the impacts of climate change. As the Smithsonian Magazine reports, rising ocean temperatures will subject the Philippines to more frequent and stronger storms, with natural barriers like mangrove forests, dangerously deforested in recent years.

With an end to the global pandemic nowhere in sight, leaders in the Philippines face an urgent task. Adapting to the realities of climate change now must be a top priority for a country that is particularly vulnerable to severe weather, but policies must go beyond preparing for the next typhoon. Implementing better disaster warning systems and climate adaption such as improving infrastructure, and as it relates to evacuation, are two important strategies for limiting the impact of future storms. Unfortunately, Goni may be just the beginning of a destructive season for the Philippines and its neighbors. Humanitarian groups are rightly concerned about the onset of La Nina season, which is likely to bring higher than normal rainfall, with the potential for landslides and flooding, and even more displacement. (Smithsonian Magazine, BBC News, UN News)

More Than Five Million Acres, Burned, Thousands Displaced in West Coast Wildfires

Tegan Mierle via UNSPLASH

Tegan Mierle via UNSPLASH

As many as 100 fires have spread over California, Oregon, Washington, now spreading into Idaho, 280,000 (IDMC) people are now displaced, at least 27 people are dead, air quality is abysmal, stretching far beyond the affected states to the eastern coast of the United States and even parts of Europe, and state leaders, citing climate change, are pleading for help.

All the while, the US President, after weeks of silence, once again, blamed forest management and denied climate change played any part in the present fires, saying, “I don’t think science knows.”

The governors of all threes states cited climate change impacts like drying forests with rising heat as contributing to more dangerous fires.

In an open letter response, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington, a fierce climate change advocate, addressed the President directly, “I hope you had an enlightening trip to the West Coast, where your refusal to address climate change — and your active steps to allow even more carbon pollution — will accelerate devastating wildfires like you are seeing today.”

Abrahm Lustgarten wondered if climate migration would be a factor in the United States? He interviewed a cross-section of more than 40 experts in economics, risk analysis, climate science and urban planning. Through his interviews and research, he contends Americans will find their lives negatively transformed by the environment, namely more heat, less water, and that one in 12 Americans in the South will move westward, causing shifts in population and also widening socio-economic divides.

In a sign of hope, more Americans now rank climate change as a top political priority or concern, as compared to 2016. In Iowa, Democratic caucus attendees ranked climate change second to health as an issue of concern, and Yale and George Mason University polls found that even Republicans’ views are shifting, with one in three now stating climate change should be declared a national emergency. (NY Times, NY Times Magazine, LA Times)